Showdown in the Dormitories
The group set Ephraim and Dartak to guard the hole in the foyer while Cassandra, Selena and Ikki explored the castle more. The castle was mostly looted already, but the three of them managed to find a prism of power, a bottle of endless smoke, and a long metal rod that had remained untarnished by the ocean all this time.' '''Ephraim was standing in the foyer when several sahuagin emerged from the hole and attacked him. Cassandra came to reinforce him but the sahuagin Barron took her and Ephraim out. Dartak and Selena arrived to drive the sahuagin off and revive their allies. 'Cassandra interrogated one of the sahuagin prisoners by torturing him brutally. He said he and his people were guarded by and worshiped the great shark queen Ak'Halash. But he did admit that Ak'Halash was not herself a shark. Convinced she had enough, Cassandra killed him. 'Together the group went into the headmaster's office, which also had remained untouched by the ocean, to find blueprints for the engine to see if they could figure out why it couldn't life the castle and higher and so they could learn how to control it. '''They found a portable hole guarded by a mirror of imprisonment. Ikki and Ephraim we're both caught inside the mirror in their attempts to identify it.'Cassandra destroyed the mirror with a spell of sacred flame, and upon it's destruction the mirror launched Ikki and Ephraim back into the room. '''They found the portable hole contained the blueprints for the engine they had been looking for, and some coin. They also managed to find a book that belonged to the headmaster, however upon forcing the lock on the book Selena found the book was empty. 'At this point Selena found out the untarnished rod was a rod of the pact keeper that had been disguised, most likely to keep it safe. 'The group decided they needed to fight the sahuagin and to do so they would need the cloaks of the manta ray from Alfenheim. Ephraim went back to the city and stole the cloaks, very narrowly escaping capture in the process. 'Upon returning the group all slept in the headmasters office. Selena had a nightmare about the night the castle burned, and Cassandra dreamed another version of herself was trying to get into the room. 'When the group awoke Cassandra realized the sahuagin were searching the castle for them. Dartak and Ephraim ambushed and killed one. Selena then took it's form and the group agreed they would lead the sahuagin into the dorms main hallway and ambush them there. 'The plan worked and with the help of Cassandra's ever smoking bottle, the group confused the sahuagin and they moved in and decimated the larger force of fish men, with Dartak tanking most of them. ''''After defeating them Dartak and Selena took the cloaks of the manta ray and decided to explore the hole in the foyer the sahuagin kept coming out of. Inside they found a long set of burrowed tunnels. They didn't get very far before they ran into a nearly matured, blind Orange dragon. It appeared they had found Ak'Halash. Unaware of their presence the two of them backed out out slowly, wishing to regroup and strategize.